Meet Sean Blanton Outstanding Photography Senior

Senior Sean Blanton was named Outstanding Senior for the Photography department.

At the end of the academic year, a graduating senior from each major is named the Outstanding Senior for that department. Today in part four of our 10-part series, we interviewed senior Sean Blanton (CCAD 2011), who was named Outstanding Senior for the Photography department.

Q.)What was your proudest achievement while at CCAD?A.) I suppose that being selected as the Outstanding Senior in Photography has been my proudest achievement. I know that there are a lot of other people in the photography program producing some really amazing work. Any one of them could have received this award. I’m flattered that I would even be considered.

Q.) What scared you most while you were at CCAD?
A.) Scared? I don’t know about scared. I was however, intimidated. I was definitely intimidated at first by the expectations of the college. It was a completely different environment from what I used to. I wasn’t used to being pushed as hard as I was, especially with having a strong conceptual standpoint in my work. I was really pushed to make my work about something, to have concrete reasons for creating work. Producing work with that kind of conviction was at first intimidating: now, it has become an integral point in my work.

Q.) Why is it important as an alumnus to continue giving back to your alma mater?
A.) CCAD has given me more than I could ever ask for. They have done so much for the artist community in Columbus, and I have truly grown to love this school for that connection. The more we can give back to CCAD, the more we can help it—and Columbus as an artist community—grow. I would like to remain involved in the CCAD community as much as possible, for as long as possible.

Q.) What will you miss most?
A.) The professors. Many of the professors I’ve met during my time at CCAD have been some of the most inspirational people with whom I’ve ever come in contact. Their advice has stretched way beyond critiques on my work. They have truly shaped me—and I mean that only in a positive way. They have driven me to do great things and challenged my thinking. I’ll be sad to drop out of immediate contact with all those people I’ve relied on for advice the past four years. I’ll be sad to never sit through a lecture that leaves me breathless.
Q.) If you can describe what graduating feels like in one word (okay, one sentence), what would it be?
A.) Graduating feels to me like the transition where professors no longer feel the need to teach you, and instead have given you the opportunity to teach yourself. (Sorry for breaking the one sentence rule – but to clarify what I just said – graduating doesn’t feel like the end of my education – but instead a transition where I now need to take my education into my own hands. They have laid the foundation for my education as an artist, but that is all. I now have a lifetime to spend teaching myself to be an artist. That is what it is to be an artist – to always be constantly observing and learning.)